Influenza vaccination and egg allergy - more discussion

A serious allergic reaction to eggs is a significant reason not to receive an influenza vaccination. This is discussed earlierhere.

Today's interesting question, from a mom was: can an egg-allergic person take the nasal vaccination for influenza? This is a complicated question.

I saw a 10-month old boy today who had hives, extreme irritability, coughing and wheezing within 10 minutes after being fed scrambled eggs. His mom fed him some Benedryl and took him to his pediatrician's office. There he was given an albuterol neb treatment, more Benedryl, a shot of a corticosteroid Kenalog. He got better within 1 hour and was referred to me for further evaluation and treatment. He had eaten scrambled egg before and had even received the first of two shots of the influenza vaccine. Prick skin testing confirmed egg allergy. His mother already understood that he should not receive the second scheduled influenza vaccination. The question above arose. My answer was no, because both products, injection and nasal spray vaccines, are made with the help of duck yolk. No other vaccinations are available. The next question was: is there any medication available to prevent or treat influenza infections? No, he is too young for Tamiflu. His family should take care to limit his exposure to anyone suspected of having an influenza infection. The most we can offer to him and any other child in this situation is supportive care - it is try to make him comfortable and hope for the best. To decrease his odds of getting influenza from his family, I urged his entire family and circle of caregivers to get the vaccination. If they are immune, then they can't pass on the infection. As he gets older, he may be able to take Tamiflu. More importantly, as he gets older and avoids egg strictly, he should outgrow his egg allergy. It takes in my experience three to five years. Before I clear him to eat eggs or get the influenza vaccination, he should be skin tested to eggs and show negative results.

If you have questions about what to do about influenza vaccinations and egg allergy, ask your doctor. Don't just ignore the problem and hope you don't get influenza. You have a 1 in 5 chance of getting influenza. If you want to see detected cases of influenza in the U.S., check thisC.D.C. link.